Road to the Horse

It was wonderful to be able to experience the "Road the the Horse" from your own living room. This year they offered a webcast for $29.99. The first day we had a few freezes and audio problems, but they worked them out and the last two days went smoothly. What an amazing opportunity to watch 3 successful trainers, with three distinct methods, with three very different horses. It was fantastic.

Some things that happened along the way. Pat was bucked off on day two. He said "he had green lights the whole time, then it switched to yellow then red really quickly." He wasn't hurt and continued on. For a time, Pat went into teaching mode which riled both the audience there and those watching on the webcast. Many felt he was being disrespectful to the other clinicians. He came out for his finale speaking from the heart and seeming a bit more humble. He did an amazing job on his horse "Partner" and he announced that he would be taking this horse home with him after the show. Pat welcomed people in attendance to follow their journey.

I wasn't sure who was working harder, Clinton or his horse. They both were wringing wet and panting. There was definite tension between Pat and Clinton. At one point Pat offered free passes to his Colt Starting classes to attendees of RTTH, Clinton said "if it good, you don't offer it for free." Later they argued over a rule in the finale that got pretty heated before Tootie Bland calmed them down. I think Clinton struggled with his horse. He just never seemed to get him soft and was fighting his bit hard throughout his finale. Clinton took off his bridle at the end and galloped full speed around the arena...it was a bit exhilarating to watch, but the horse almost jumped out of the arena twice. The crowd went wild for it. It was clear, the majority of people in the arena were rooting for him.

Chris Cox was rock solid the whole weekend. He had a really difficult horse (reminded me of my own!) She was sensitive and escalated quickly if confused. Today on the way into the arena, the horse panicked, and nearly ran over a crowd of people. You could tell Chris was upset by the way the wranglers were bringing horses into round pen, so he had them change tactics and do it as a herd thing. In his finale, Chris shined. He was soft with his hands and did an amazing job with her. He deserved to win, no question.

Pat, Chris, and Clinton making their picks!

Judges Announced

They just announced the judges for the 2011 Road to the Horse Legends in Murfreesboro, Tennessee February 25-27. I have two friends going. I am so jealous. I am ordering the webcast and watching from home:-(.

Bill Enk
• Director of Judges for the National Reined Cow Horse Association, judging credentials with the National Cutting Horse Association, the National Reining Association, and the American Quarter Horse Association

Cody Lambert
• Long family history with AQHA racehorses, Vice President of the PBR Board of Directors, PBR co-founder and a three time PBR World Finals qualifier, nine NFR qualifications, recipient of the PBR Ring of Honor award, event judge

Marian Buehler
• Board of Directors for the Texas Horse Park in Dallas, over 30 years experience studying natural training techniques and methods among several species, transitioned natural horsemanship techniques into the performance arena

Jack Brainard
• Director on the Board of the Equine Program at Texas A&M University Commerce, original director of the NRHA, a founder of the Stock Horse of Texas (SHOT), active judge and member of the AQHA

Dr. Robert Miller
• Equine veterinarian, world-renowned speaker and author on horse behavior and natural horsemanship, father of the revolutionary foal training technique known as "imprint training"

Bob Moorhouse
• General Manager of Pitchfork Land and Cattle Co. 1986 - 2007, leadership or advisory positions with the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, the AQHA, the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show, the Working Ranch Cowboys Association and the Ranch Horse of America Association.

"Road to the Horse judges are selected from every facet of the equine industry. While some have experience with ranch, rodeo and performance horses, others have experience with dressage, show jumping and western pleasure. Combined they create the ultimate judging panel to determine who will win the title, prestige and honor of being named the 2011 Road to the Horse Legends Champion!"

Walkabout Tour 2010 Redmond

I had a weekend away with the girls down in Redmond, Oregon enjoying the Clinton Anderson tour. This is my third time going to see the Aussie. I headed down Saturday morning, the girls were a day ahead of me, so they enjoyed a day of shopping in the lovely city of Bend followed by a night of wine and hot tubing. As I rolled in Saturday, I met my crew headed out for their lunch break....Joni was grinning ear to ear. She just won the grand prize ($800 value) "Fundamentals" program. High five! Guess who is going to borrow that:-)
I missed the morning session, but arrived in time to watch a ground work session with a beautiful, but pushy, dominant buckskin named "Leroy." I took away from this session that I should strive for a "higher grade" with Maddy. She does most of the things I ask, but does she do them enthusiastically or the speed I want...sometimes, but not always. So I am going to raise the bar. I need to raise my expectations and get my horse out of kindergarten.

After that Clinton rode Diez, his quarter horse gelding. Diez looks like a body builder in the horse world, compact and muscle bound.

We stayed with Jim and Shoshana Buckendorf of Suite Escapes. They have a beautiful, jaw dropping property they rent out. We enjoyed the western themed decor, gorgeous copper accents, and big cozy rooms with fireplaces. It was so nice. I feel inspired to re-decorate after staying there. It was amazing.

We stayed up drinking wine and talking horses. We could have talked horses until dawn, but we had a clinic to get to! Sunday we watched advanced ground work, work under saddle, and trailer loading. When it was over, we went down to get our picture with Clinton. Of course, we had to torture our barn owner Tammy who couldn't come due to a agility dog trial. We got Clinton to sign a calender that says "Tammy, Where were you?" Clinton. He was happy to play along. He is signing her calender in the photo below. We missed you Tammy, but Clinton promised to return to Oregon on his next tour.

Back to Lessons

I took some time out from dressage lessons this Spring to work on Maddy's foundation training. I was spending lots of money on lessons, only to struggle during the allotted time slot just to keep her straight or on the rail. I worked all summer on Clinton Anderson exercises in the arena and they really have worked wonders on my mare. I decided she was ready and I was ready to start getting some instruction again. Last Wednesday we had our first lesson and we went to work on a big circle. I have never had my mare go "on the bit" because I have been riding on a loose rein and have been waiting for some coaching from my dressage teacher before doing so. It was awesome! She went so round and kept her feet on the circle. It was the best feeling I have ever had on a horse to date. It could be because I know all the hard work that went into to being able to ride this simple circle...or it could be because I am so proud of her willingness to work....it could be that "Yes...it really was that awesome!" Either way...I will take it. I am really excited to go forward with her into the dressage realm. Wish me luck.

Dead Boa Boots

I am pretty disappointed. Clinton Anderson "endorsed" these boots, they looked cool, they were easy to put on....."sigh." It was too good to be true. It took only four rides for the Boa Boots to break, both on the same ride. As we were crossing the creek, I lost the first one and went back to look for it. I saw it bobbing in the water, the wires broken. An hour later, I see a black thing whiz off to the side of me and there went the second one. Its wires broken as well. Lucky for me, they have a 90 day warranty. I have friends that swear by the Cavallos and a friends that loves the Old Mac G-2's. Anyone out there have a horse boot that they prefer? I would love to hear from you. Here is a photo of Me and Maddy enjoying the trails, oblivious to the impending demise of our Boa Boots. Photo courtesy of Kacy over at All Horse Stuff.

Expo Season

I just reserved my room down in Redmond for the 2008 Parelli Tour. I got my fliers in the mail yesterday for the NW Horse Expo. Ugh! What a tough decision to make! It is the same weekend that Clinton Anderson will be in town! I've got clinic and expo fever. I love everything about horse expos. I love to shop and take notes at the seminars. This year the Mane Event is in October, so that gives me time to save some cash for the wonderful vendors and I may just have a booth again this year for Stable Hand Video. Booth rentals are pretty pricey and I am a one man band, so when I have a booth, I have to man it all day every day. It is a lot of work, but I meet tons of cool people. What could be better? The tough part is convincing people why they should get video of their ranch, their horses, or their riding. Lots of talking and enthusiasm wears me out and I usually don't get time to enjoy what the expos have to offer. I posted a couple of pictures of my booth space for the Mane Event from 2006. I didn't do one this year because I got so busy with little side projects, not to mention Maddy. But maybe 2008 is my year. I am trying to get more focused and finish my horse documentary projects, so I can get back to working with clients again. By the way, I posted a trailer of my documentary "Inside the Backside" on YouTube if you guys want to check it out. I am hoping to upload it here when I get the time because I am looking for some feedback. I have "tweaked" it a little since posting it, but essentially it is similar. I wanted to mention, all the things (excluding electronics) in my booth I either made or got at garage sales, including the breyers on the shelves. I love bargain hunting!

Clinton Day Two

I could watch flying lead changes all day! This is a quick video post of Clinton and Mindy working the crowd. Today was excellent down in Redmond. We rolled in a little late because Derek and I are just not morning people, but we made it in time for the trailer loading demonstration. In about an hour and 20 minutes he had a 2 year old colt named "Monty" actually walking into the trailer on his own. He started out rearing and pulling his owner all over the arena. Clinton just got his feet moving, did lots of approach and retreat near the trailer, some squeeze game all around the trailer. Then he worked him over the ramp, then slowly in and out. The key was letting him rest in the trailer, then he backed him out and worked him hard near the trailer, loaded him again, let him rest and petted him in there. Suddenly the trailer was the place Monty wanted to be, so he went right up in there by himself. It was very cool.

After the clinic, I got a picture with Clinton and Mindy. She really is just a gorgeous mare. He saw her picture on a magazine cover in Austrailia when she was just 4 months old. He tracked down the owner and said he had to have her. He was just 17 at the time and scrounged up the $3,000 for her and she has been his "mate" ever since. Clinton was great, meeting with everyone and patiently listening and taking every question. If you ever can get to one of his tour stops, I strongly recommend it. We really had a great weekend.

Clinton Anderson

My boyfriend and I are down in Redmond, Oregon this weekend attending the Walkabout Tour with Clinton Anderson. Clinton is a natural horsemanship trainer originally from Australia. He moved to the States ten years ago and has been teaching people how to gain respect from their horses at various clinics and with his show, Downunder Horsemanship, on RFD-TV. I get a kick out of him. He has a pretty good sense of humor and obviously is very passionate about what he does. I was pretty impressed with him today. He really went non-stop all day. When he wasn't in the ring, he was signing autographs in a booth and answering questions. Even after his long day, he told everyone he would stay after until every ones questions were answered. Now that is dedication! The tickets to the Redmond event were free and he gave lots of his products away. They had a raffle as well and all the money goes to a therapeutic riding program in Texas, so I have to buy one tomorrow.

Today he worked with Sherry Cervi, a two time World Barrel Racing Champion, to demonstrate some techniques for better barrel racing. He worked with a 6 year old Thoroughbred from the track that he referred to as a "crack head" because she was so amped up. By the end of the day, after at least an hour of lateral flexion drills and one rein stops, he got her to trot easy on a loose rein. She was a trembling mess when she first came in and it was great to see the transition.
He did a great liberty demonstration with his mare, Mindy. This is a picture of her laying down on command when they were all done. It was really beautiful to see horse and human so connected, I got tears in my eyes. I told my boyfriend it wasn't about the amazing performance, it was really just the way she looked at him. I know that sounds a little cheesy, but I think as horse owners, we all strive to get that "look", that understanding.

We are looking forward to tomorrow. There is a trailer loading demostration I want to see. This is a shot of Clinton signing someones boot.